🥳📚Happy publication to Against The Tide, the debut novel by Robert Sherwood.
It’s safe to say that I work on many books a year, and all of my authors have their strengths and weakness, and that’s why we work together to make their manuscripts the best they can be. But it’s very rare that I come across a manuscript that I was excited about as when Robert Sherwood first approached me a few years ago.
Robert Sherwood’s debut is packed full with everything you could want from an action thriller: evocative scenery, pulse-racing action plays, tense stand-offs, daring but emotional characters, twists at every turn, and a witty and pacy narrative. Lovers of Lee Child and Robert Ludlum are going fall head-over-heels for this series, with protagonists that really get under your skin and that you can’t help but root for, perfectly matched against deliciously complex adversaries.
The thing is, Robert is far too humble to say such things, so I decided to do it for him, and with much persuasion, he was brave enough to answer some burning questions. So after you’ve grabbed your copy of Against the Tide be sure to scroll down to read an exclusive interview with the author!
A family’s criminal past. A fast-rising detective. A murder that the law alone cannot avenge.
DS ‘Razor’ Burns thought he had escaped his upbringing amid London’s underworld. But after he is accused of staging the drowning of his wife on a Spanish beach, his only chance of finding justice lies on the wrong side of the law.
Leksi Lam is a sharp criminal attorney who thought defending Burns would advance her career. Yet he might just be the first innocent client she has ever had.
In an unlikely alliance, the pair are forced to confront the very forces of law and order that they have always held sacred.
Can Burns trust his criminal connections to help him find the truth? Should Lam trust her gut instincts, even if it means risking everything she has worked for?
And how far over to the dark side is one man prepared to go to avenge his wife – and save himself?
Against the Tide is the first book in the Razor Burns and Leksi Lam series of action-filled international crime thrillers. Perfect for fans of Lee Child, David Baldacci and Mark Dawson.
Robert, welcome! Against the Tide is the first gripping instalment in the new Burns and Lam series. Tell us a little more about it.
DS Fraser ‘Razor’ Burns is a fast-rising detective who thought he had escaped his family’s criminal past. But after he is accused of staging the drowning of his wife on holiday in the Costa Del Sol, he is forced back to the wrong side of the law to find justice – with the help of the only person who believes he might actually be innocent, feisty defence lawyer Leksi Lam.
The book is quite international, with the characters travelling across the world throughout the course of the book. Setting is such a strong presence in the novel, especially with the majority of the book taking place in Spain – it’s almost like a character in itself. Is there a reasoning behind why you chose the setting?
I know that part of southern Spain well and always thought it would make an evocative setting. The Costa del Sol is an uncomfortable blend of holiday destination and crime hotspot, and it naturally lends itself to some interesting characters. Leksi Lam’s clients have complicated problems that cross international boundaries, which means Burns and Lam will have to follow their cases into dangerous and troubled locations.
Who inspired you to start writing? Have your influences changed since then?
I can’t really remember not writing. I won a short story competition at primary school, which led to me writing children’s book reviews for the Reading Evening Post when I was 10 years old. I always wanted to be a journalist. I guess I always intended to write novels, too, but I saw the difficulties that friends had with publishers and I found it hard to be inspired to write something that might never be published. It was really the likes of Mark Dawson who, belatedly, opened my eyes to the indie publishing world and made me realise it was possible to have a professional independent publishing career. Now I’m inspired by the authors who are making their livings in indie publishing, too many to mention but certainly the likes of AJ Wills, Rachel McLean, Simon McCleave, Robert Enright.
Why did you choose to write action/adventure/thriller?
The truth is because that’s what came out when I sat down to write! When I was in my early teens, I found a Dick Francis novel on my grandfather’s bookshelf and have been hooked on thrillers ever since. I studied literature at university and have read widely across genres, but thrillers have remained a staple – so I guess I just tried to write what I love reading.
What is the biggest challenge you faced when writing your first novel? How did you overcome it? Has it got any easier?
The biggest challenge was actually putting the words in front of people (not least an editor!) and asking them to read and critique it. I’ll happily publish my journalism anywhere, but fiction felt completely different. The other challenge was learning the intricacies of genre, pacing, structure, character – even though I had studied craft and thought I knew a bit about it. Fortunately, I had a good editor to teach me – and I think, now that I’m starting on the third book, it is getting easier!
Do you like to plan the action of your novels (plotter) or do you just let them write themselves (pantser)?
I like to think I’m a plotter, but I’ve realised not a very good one! The plot of Against The Tide changed a lot between drafts to really find the story, and my second novel also needed quite a lot of revisions. But that takes time and I hate throwing away chapters and even characters that don’t fit. So, for my third novel I’m trying to create a much more detailed plot outline. We’ll see if it works!
You’re a journalist by trade, so Burns’s his day job is very different to your own. Did you have to do a lot of research for the character? Was it difficult getting the details right?
As a journalist, I spent years talking to police officers, lawyers, politicians and security service agents, so I’ve a reasonable knowledge of law enforcement and the legal system. But I wanted a larger canvas than a detailed police procedural, so really the books follow Burns as he abandons his faith in the law and seeks justice in his own way. That gives me more scope for setting and plot, and means I don’t have to rely too much on intricate research. My second protagonist, Leksi Lam, is a lawyer, though, and her cases frame the novels, so my legal knowledge does come in useful.
Although Against the Tide is a book of fast action and high stakes, there is also a lot of emotional depth in the novel. Do you prefer writing the fast-paced action sequences, or do you prefer exploring character development?
Actually, the action scenes are the ones that take me longest to write. I do enjoy character and emotional depth, so I have tried to really bring that out. What I find easiest to write is dialogue, and I’ll often just try to listen to the characters and get the dialogue down. Then I’ll build the rest of the scene around it. The action scenes are great fun, but I think it’s true that readers will only follow the action if they are invested in the characters.
It can be said that Burns has the most incredible and also worst luck in Against the Tide. Can we look forward to more titles in the series?
Absolutely. The second book, Against Their Will, is almost ready and about to go on pre-order. In the second instalment, Leksi Lam drags a very reluctant Burns into an investigation that takes her back to her family’s roots in South Sudan. And I’m just about to start writing the third.
What is your desert-island read?
That’s a rotten question! Possibly the novel that most opened my eyes to different viewpoints, language, character and narrative styles was William Faulkner’s The Sound and The Fury. It’s probably time I reread it. (Of course, what I’d actually take would be the complete works of Dick Francis and relive being a teenager and devouring thrillers.)
Do you have any writing tips to share?
The advice that helped me most was Stephen King’s tip to write the first draft with the door shut – that is, don’t tell anybody about it and write with freedom. I tell myself nobody will ever read this draft so I can just get the words down and not worry about whether they are any good. You can fix the problems later (or your editor can!).
What is your writing process like? Do you have a routine? A favourite place to write?
I write best early in the morning, so I try to start as early as I can and get about 2000 words written. Then I can get on with everything else I need to do and my other projects. When I’m writing the first draft, I try to stick to that as much as I can. But when I’m editing or re-writing, the schedule goes to hell (especially if I’m running late for an editing deadline – which I always am!). I have a little office at the end of the garden and that’s where I prefer to write. But two decades in journalism taught me to write anywhere, so as long as I have my laptop, I can write.
Also most important question. Favourite writing snack?!
I write best on an empty stomach, so I never eat when I’m writing. The same absolutely cannot be said for drinking coffee, though.
Against the Tideis published today! And I’m delighted to share an exclusive extract with you below.
Fraser Burns sensed the first hints of nausea rising in his gut, and it wasn’t the smell of rotting fish wafting on the early-morning breeze that had caused it.
He sucked in a long breath of the salty air and let it out slowly. It did little to settle his unease, and he fought the impulse to turn on his heel and retreat back along Calle Ribera, the road that skirted the waterfront of Puerto Banús Marina. From behind his dark sunglasses, he let his gaze play over the ordered lines of slowly bobbing yachts that were moored along the fingers of jetties stretching out into the harbour. A seagull screeched overhead. Another gust of breeze overlaid the stench of decaying seaweed.
Burns wrinkled his nose again, though it was the sight of such an overt display of wealth that really turned his stomach. He knew exactly where most of the money that paid for these millionaires’ playthings came from. The marina might give off the appearance of unbridled glamour, but it still stank.
And somewhere along one of these jetties was the yacht he had come to visit. The boat owned by his uncle, a man Burns had turned his back on when he was a child and had seen only sporadically in the years since. A man that Burns still had no desire to spend any time with.
But he had promised Samantha. And, given that promises to her were ones he could never break, he had no choice. He checked the time on his silver Rolex Submariner, the only thing his father had left him. Apart from the regrets and resentment, obviously. It was just turning 9 a.m. He could get this over with and still have time to enjoy the last day of his holiday with his wife.
Already hooked? Grab your copy of Against the Tide here!
Out today! Grab your copy now!
About the Author
Robert has spent more than two decades as a journalist, and his reporting has appeared in a range of UK national and regional newspapers and magazines. During almost 15 years as a staff journalist for the Financial Times, he covered issues of law, security, terrorism and politics as both legal correspondent and London correspondent. Those are themes that continue to inform his fiction. He lives in Kent with his wife and two children and a growing assortment of animals.
